Trolley contactor



p 1944- F. H; RICHTERKESSING 2,357,289

TROLLEY CbNTACTOR Filed Jan. 11. 1941 INVENTOR 'I p/M/K p/CHTEQ/(LSS/NG ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 5, 1944 signor to 'Cheatham Electric Switching Device 00., Incorporated, Louisville, Ky. ,..a corporation of Kentucky Application January 11, 1941,Serial-No. 374,033

ZCIaims. (01. 246-42152) My invention relates to a trolley wire contactor for the purpose of controlling the operation of auxiliary electric railway devices, such as electrically operated track and/or trolley f-rog switches, signal apparatus, such as lights, bells, and crossing gates,-when engaged by a current collector carried by a passing vehicle.

One object of this invention is to provide a contactor of simple sturdy construction primarily for use in mines, especially where only'a minimum of space between the trolley wire and ceiling is available. Obviously the principles and structure disclosed herein have uses in other branches of the electric railway industry,

Another object of this invention is to provide a contactor that can be installed at practically any location without disturbing the trolley wire, that is, a contactor that can be attached to any straight section of trolley wire by the simple process of clamping the end brackets of the contactor to the wire. Additional support can be provided by attachment to a ceiling hanger or a span wire.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved and simplified type of contactor structure embodying some of the principles disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 1,569,039 to Richard R. Scroggan.

The above objects of this invention are accomplished by the new and novel construction, combination and relationship of the various parts disclosed in the specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and set forth in the claims.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of a complete contactor attached to a trolley wire.

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 3'is a vertical section along line 33 of Figure 1. V

Figure 4 is a vertical section along line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a vertical section along line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a modification of Figure 3.

Numerals I0, I I designate a pair of beams composed of insulating material, preferably wood, having a rectangular cross section, which beams are secured at each end thereof to a bracket I2 by bolts I3. These brackets have parallel faces I2A engaging the inner faces IDA, HA, respectively, of beams l0, ll. These brackets are provided with a channel I4 for the reception of trolley wire l5, which wire is secured by clamp I6 secured by bolts ll. Numeral IBA designates a threaded hole for securing'a bolt that may be desired for providing auxiliary support for the contactor. It should be noted that this clamping arrangement provides for mounting the contactor on any straight section of wire, after cross bars II! have been swung to their dotted positions, simply by raising the contactor for engagement of the channels [4 with the lower side of the Wire; after the contactor has been elevated for attachment the end cross bars are swung to the full line position and secured by the bolts associated therewith, thus temporarily retaining the contactor on the wire while the operator locates and secures clamps i6 into locked position as shown in Figures 1 and 2. By this arrangement, a single individual can readily install the contactor without assistance.

Runway I9 is secured to cars 20-40, as a permanent sub-assembly 2| in any suitable manner such as swedging or welding. Four U shaped springs 22 are employed for yieldingly attaching the sub-assembly 2| to the beams. These springs embrace the preferably roundedends of beams In and H and are secured thereto at their upper ends by bolts 23 which also serve as terminal postsfor wires connecting the contactor to auxiliary electric devices referred to above. The lower' ends of these springs are secured to laterally, extending arms 20A-20A, of ears 2020 by bolts ZOE-20B; The ends of the runway are located in juxtaposed relation to the inner ends of webs I2BI2B depending from brackets l2-l2.

It should be noted that the webs and the runway provide a substantially continuous underrun for depressing the trolley collector as it makes engagement and passes through the contactor.

It should also be noted that the-beams of the contactor are disposed on each side of the trolley wire while the runway is directly below it, thus providing a balance between the forces of supporting the contactor and resisting the force applied thereto by the trolley collector. Incident to this passage, contacts 25, 26 are moved upwardly and forced into engagement With stationary contacts 21, 28. The latter contacts are attached to the lower ends of bolts 29, 30, while the former are fixed in yoke ISA secured to runway 19. These bolts 29, 29A and 30, 30A are disposed respectively, in beams H), II, and provide binding posts for attachment of wires leading to the accessory apparatus to be controlled by the engagement or disengagement of the contacts as the trolley collector passes through the trolley conbolt 30.

As an auxiliary means for centering and supporting the runway during passage of the collector, the modified structure shown in Fig. 6 may be employed. In this embodiment yoke I9B carries contacts 25A, 26A disposed on an angle and co-acting with juxtaposed contacts 21A, 28A attached to bolts 29A, 30A.

It is to be understood that modifications of the present invention can be made Without department from the scope thereof and that only the claims herein express the limitations of my rights.

I claim:

1. A trolley contactor of the class described, comprising;. two elongated beams composed of insulating material and disposed in parallel relation adjacent a trolley wire; means for attaching said beams to said wire in spaced relation thereto; a runway longitudinally disposed in parallel relation to said beams and adapted to operate a pair of electric contact members carried by the trolley contactor in response to pressure exerted by a trolley collector traversing said runway; and longitudinally disposed U shaped springs for attaching the runway to the beams, each spring having one end thereof attached adjacent the end of a beam with said end of said beam projecting into the space between the arms of said spring, and the other end of each spring attached to an end of said runway.

2. In a device of the class described comprising, in combination, two elongated beams of insulating material fixedly secured one to the other in spaced relation to form a channel for receiving a trolley wire; means for attaching the beams to the trolley wire; a U-shaped spring at the end of each beam, each spring having one leg thereof lying substantially above the corresponding beam and fixedly secured thereto, and the other leg extending below the said corresponding beam with the U-portion of the spring extending over and around the corresponding end of the said corre- V spending beam; an elongated runway fixedly secured to the other leg of each spring and there-,

FRANK H. RICHTERKESSING. 

